entertainment business plans

Question:
My question regards where I need to start with this whole business thing. I am a creative person, and as such I have come up with a creative idea for a large sized business in the entertainment arena. Now, thinking that this is America, land of opportunity, I set out trying to determine the best way to pursue this idea. The problem is, I have no money to speak of and a degree in Creative Writing. I don't have any rich or connected friends. All of the creative people that I talk to think my idea is great, but none of them know anything about business. They're poets and musicians. So I found the SBA, but they aren't appropriate since this idea would cost in the millions of dollars to get it off the ground. So then I hear about venture capital and decide my best course of action is to write a business plan and try to attract venture capitalists. But then all the books I got on writing business plans say that they are primarily used by expanding companies to gain more capital rather than by startups. Then someone else tells me I need to incorporate to protect my intellectual property rights, which makes sense coming from my experience as a screenwriter. So now I'm at a loss. Is this really the land of opportunity, or do you really have to have money to make money?

Answer:
My question regards where I need to start with this whole business -thing. I am a creative person, and as such I have come up with a -creative idea for a large sized business in the entertainment arena. -Now, thinking that this is America, land of opportunity, I set out -trying to determine the best way to pursue this idea. The problem is, I -have no money to speak of and a degree in Creative Writing. I don't -have any rich or connected friends. yet. You don't have any rich or connected friends, yet. I know from first hand experience that you are closer to money than you think. I've gotten more done with friends or friends of friends in the past few years "than I can shake a stick at". Take action to expand your circle. One great way is to join the local chamber of commerce. Get in your local newspaper writing a free column (assuming your writing is any good). That will open a tremendous number of doors.

There's an idea I picked up somewhere (I don't recall where). If you want to attract a certain type of person, make yourself attractive to them. What would make people with money (namely investors in your case) want to know you, trust you and do business with you.

All of the creative people that I -talk to think my idea is great, but none of them know anything about -business. They're poets and musicians. STOP TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR IDEA IMMEDIATELY.

Go back to everyone and get them to sign a piece of paper that simply says "I promise not to tell anyone about Sam's idea about XYZ" Simple. It doesn't have to be a $500 non-disclosure document full of legalese. The main idea is to impress upon them the value you place on your idea and to make it clear to them that you own it and want to keep it private. (And if you are thinking, "whew glad I don't have to do that, 'cause these are my *friends*" then I quite frankly think you are too clueless to be in business world at this time. Perhaps in a few years Not convinced? Do your friends have any friends that you don't consider friends? All it takes is one slip from one of your friends to a relative or in-law of theirs and bingo. You are dead before you start. Every "generation" an idea passes, it's tie to the source weakens and more out of control.)

So I found the SBA, but they -aren't appropriate since this idea would cost in the millions of dollars -to get it off the ground. Um,,, while I agree it may seem that this is true, I don't believe it. Consider these questions, "How could this idea be started with $10,000?" "What would it look like in it's simplest most reduced version?" "How could it work on a micro-small, local scale?" "Who is in a position to make money with this idea, even if I am not?"

So then I hear about venture capital and -decide my best course of action is to write a business plan and try to -attract venture capitalists. But then all the books I got on writing -business plans say that they are primarily used by expanding companies -to gain more capital rather than by startups. That's the biggest bunch of baloney you've typed so far. It just ain't so. Perhaps what they book was trying to say is something like, "Many who start business are too clueless to write a business plan and they just wing it . but if they survive long enough to be in a position to expanded, they have 'grown enough of a brain' to do a business plan"

I spend a large percentage of my day helping startups do the "computer parts" of their business plans. I could do it full time easily, if it weren't often so "boring"

Then someone else tells -me I need to incorporate to protect my intellectual property rights, -which makes sense coming from my experience as a screenwriter. Well, my understanding is that you don't have to incorporate to protect your intellectual property rights. I thought individuals file patents every day in this country when it comes time to DO something with it, you want to "limit liability" at which time a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) might be in order.

-So now I'm at a loss. Is this really the land of opportunity, -or do you really have to have money to make money? Would you be surprised if the answer is, "both" ?

First I have another question. Don't take offense, nothing personal. But you come on like everyone you know is a poet or musician not in a position to help commercialize your idea (i.e. lacking great sums of money) but then you seem to be following all this advice and taking all these statements as facts ( from "someone" ). Doesn't make sense to me. Just something to think about for you.

Secondly, you have mentioned several of the most common limiting beliefs that keeps otherwise clever people from "doing much" with their cleverness (which in turn eventually makes them bitter clever people -- not a pretty thought in this post-Kaszinski world we live in :).

Thirdly, look at what you know best and turn it into a way to open the doors you need opened. I'm guessing with a large degree of certainty than "Venture Capital", "Entreperialism", "New Business Startups" and "Mergers and Acquisitions" aren't your strengths much less "Finance", "Management", "Sales" and "Marketing". But ya know what? It's okay, because I guarantee you at some point, every person who has some expertise in these areas has needed someone with your expertise. Get yourself known as a great writer. Right now you are a total unknown and pretty much all the doors to the people you need to see are closed (pretty much).

Fourthly, ever watch TV? Or movies? :-) Watch a sitcom and count the number of individual and small group screen credits there are. Someone gets "Created by" or "Based on " screen credit, but believe me they are just like you until a producer, exec producer pitch it to a studio yada yada.. get a director and a director of photography. yada yada and an editor .

Cast of many, isn't it? That's what a business has to be too. NO DIFFERENT. And a business works best exactly when a movie does, when the right balance of all the elements is achieved. Right now sounds like you are a "one man show" (using a metaphor from the entertainment world), but, whoops, you don't have anyone to even take tickets, show people to their seats, much less operate the lights and the curtains. I guess there really is no room for a "one man show" even in entertainment, is there?

Actually a smart, creative writer like you could probably write an interesting "paper" about how "doing a movie" is just like "starting a business." It's all the same. There's a concept, there's a plan, there's finance and accounting, there's marketing, there's sales and distribution. yada yada yada.

So, you work on this idea for a book, see ya do some research into both areas, then you join the chamber of commerce, go to some meetings, see, then you start telling people you are writing a book . and you are researching .yada yada.. you do some interviews bingo you now know some people. (part of the beauty is that you stand little chance of having the book idea get stolen, since you won't be talking to writers). Hell you might even meet an agent or two

There's an old saying, "Every successful person's favorite subject is themselves."

Get business leaders in your community to talk to you about themselves and their experiences, the trials and tribulations of "their early years" and today and you'll learn more about business in a 6 months than many business curriculums teach in 4 years AN D... you'll have a nice bit of a network built up in the mean time.

And of course there are the book deal, the movie rights, the serialization for newspapers and magazines Hell you'll make a million on your way to the million if you are any good that is.

Oh and don't forget to put in your book how your whole adventure started with my brilliant response to your desperate posting to the Internet. :-)

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